I'm currently living in CDA and have lived in Spokane in as well. I've also lived in Portland, DC, Minnesota, and a number of placed in Montana (Bozeman, Missoula, and Great Falls)
The complaints about Spokane/CDA in the thread are dated and become less of an issue each year. Meth houses? What decent sized town doesn't have an issue with these? White power? The POS aryan nation left over 15 years ago after they lost their compound in a lawsuit.
The cost of living in Seattle has led to a lot of people moving to the east and Spokane is starting to see some of the gentrification that places like San Fran, Seattle, PDX have gone through (albeit on a much smaller level). Lots of older crap neighborhoods turning into nice neighborhoods with parks (i.e. Kendal Yards), lots of new independent restaurants, etc.
Mountain Biking I really loved mountain biking when I was living on the lower south hill. I could ride down the block and start riding single track on "The Bluff" at Poly Judd park. This trails connect up with Riverside State park which has a ton of single track and you almost never run into other riders since there are so many trails to take (the one downside is nothing is really labeled so it takes a while before you know which routes you enjoy the best). There is also good riding at Beacon Hill as well as a few different areas on the south end of Liberty Lake. In CDA most people ride up at Canfield or at Beauty Bay. Both are good, though I just prefer the Spokane area trails for no good reason. If you are into downhill riding, Silver Mountain in Kellogg has a decent park system.
Skiing Last winter we got hammered with snow. About 120 inches in town I think. So it was easy to XC ski as you could just go to a golf course or head out on the centennial trail. As for maintained trails, Mount Spokane has a good trail system. I've only been up there twice, but when I went there was a number of nicely maintained (for both classic and skate skiing) loops as well as some less maintained trails that run through the trees and what not. For downhill, there are a few options within an hours drive. Mount Spokane, Silver Mountain, Schweitzer, Lookout Pass, 49 Degrees North. It has been a long time since I've skied any of them, so I can't comment much.
Other Good Stuff - The Centennial Trail is great. A 50-60 mile long multi-use trail that runs a long the lake and river for a majority of it. It's nice to get on there for a run or family bike ride and not worry about cars. Also, a short drive away is the Trail of the Coeur d Alenes which is a paved bike/pedestrian only trail around 80 miles long.
- Lots of lakes. There are about 10 different lakes within an hour of each other. So lots of opportunities for uncluttered fun on the water. The Spokane river as well as some of the rivers south of CDA offer some good whitewater opportunities in the spring as well.
- Good Hiking. Riverside state park (the bowl and pitcher area), Dishman Hills, Liberty Lake Park, English Point, Farragut State Park, etc, etc. Lots of good places around town to hike or trail run. And none of them are really over crowded (which was the issue I always had at the good hikes around the Portland area).
- Cost of living. Take a look at Zillow. You can get a lot of house (in terms of size and quality) in the area. I think the Spokane area is a bit cheaper than CDA. The mortgage on my 3000 foot house on a 0.4 acres is less than the rent of my 700 foot apartment near downtown Portland
- Pretty good rock climbing. There is a rock gym and boulder gym in Spokane and the big gym in CDA has a small rock wall. I haven't been climbing outside here, but apparently there are some decent places to go.
- Not overcrowded. I loved living in Portland and liked DC as well. But after a while
the amount of people started to wear on me. Parking was a pain, long commutes were a pain, hiking trails were busy, etc. I just wanted to get back to a place where it was easy to get out of town and enjoy wide open spaces without a bunch of people or cars. You could do that in Portland, but it is faster and easier to do it here.
The Bad Stuff - I don't think the crime is high per-capita in Spokane, but it is there. There are drug users and homeless people. Less than Portland. Not sure in comparison to Denver. Most of the crime is stupid car crime (breaking windows to grab a backpack) and petty theft. I always tell people don't leave stuff in your cars overnight. That's why some people like living in Liberty Lake or CDA instead of Spokane proper. The crime has a sharp drop off.
- CDA loves their trucks, guns, and republicans. None are really my cup of tea. But neither was the bleeding heart Prius driving liberals in Portland who would protest something every week. I've managed just to ignore both.
- Lack of diversity. It's white up here. Really white. Spokane has a little bit more diversity than CDA. Even the immigrants here are white (Spokane has a number of Russian immigrants). That being said. In my department of the hospital we now have an Egyptian, a Palestinian, and few homosexuals. So maybe there is hope for some more diversity one day
- Pay. My sister is a grade school teacher in CDA. According to here there is a significant pay gap between ID and WA. I think she said if you have a masters you can make 15-20k more in Washington. Her comments have been that in general the support of schools in ID isn't the best. Not surprising given who runs the government in each state. A number of teachers will teach in Spokane Valley or Liberty Lake and live in CDA since the commute is short (less than 30 minutes). Another difference is WA does not have income tax (ID does), but property taxes are less in ID.
Anyway, that's my general spiel on the area. I can answer more questions if you want. If you do come up this summer feel free to send me a message. I like the area and don't really have plans on moving. Though there are other areas where I would love to live as well. If Bend, OR wasn't so far from Montana/my family, I'd go there in a heartbeat. Someone a few posts up above mentioned Helena and Bozeman. I really like both places. Bozeman is awesome. But cost of living there is very expensive since so many out-of-staters are moving there. Helena is a places I'd always considered settling down in. In both places you'd have to like living in a smaller city (30-50k) which not everyone does since you loose some amenities. That type of thing appeals to me since I grew up in a similar sized town in Montana, but it's not for everyone.
Matt
